CoviSelf Kit: Price, how to use and test results - All you need to know about Mylab COVID-19 test kit

New Delhi, May 20: In a recent development, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has approved the country's first self-testing kit for home use for suspected COVID-19 patients. According to reports, this kit will reduce burden on existing laboratories, reduce stress on manpower required for home testing, and provide quick results.

However, its efficacy is not 100 per cent and has chances of false negatives even if a person has COVID-19.

It can be seen that Mylab, a Pune-based pharma company, has designed this kit. The principle it follows is of rapid antigen test, where a nasal swab sample is tested for the virus and gives results within 15 minutes.

It is reportedly said that the kit will cost Rs 250. Mylab's current production capacity is 70 lakh kits per week, it plans to scale upto one crore kits per week in the next fortnight.

Who can use Mylab home test kit?

ICMR has advised this test for only those who have symptoms or are high risk contacts of positive patients and need to conduct a test at home. If positive, the person will be considered COVID-19 positive and will not require RT-PCR as a confirmatory test.

According to reports, this test is synced with a mobile app which will help directly feed data on ICMR portal for contact tracing. This test is not advised for general screening in public places or commuters.

If a person has symptoms and tests negative on this kit, he has to undergo RT-PCR test.

While this test cost Rs 250, RT-PCR cost between Rs 500 to 1500 and a rapid antigen test in laboratory cost Rs 300-900 in different states.

What is the process of using this home test kit?

This kit comes with a pre-filled extraction tube, sterile nasal swab, a testing card and a bio hazard bag. The person taking the test has to first download and feed all details on a mobile app of Coviself. The person has to sanitise his hands, clean the surface on which he will place kit. He/she has to insert the swab into his nose 2-4 cms inside or until it touches the back of nasal tract. The swab is then swirled inside the extraction tube to mix with the liquid inside, the tube is tightly closed, and two drop from extraction tube's outlet are spilled onto the testing card.

The result comes within 15 minutes. A person is positive for Covid-19 if two lines appear on testing card on marker 't' for testing line and 'c' for quality control line, negative if a single line appears on marker 'c'.

The tube and swab have to be sealed in bio hazard bag and disposed as biomedical waste.